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Selecting Flowering Plants for the Backyard

All the plants in the backyard were from Monrovia, one of the largest plant suppliers to local nursuries in the country, and they grow some very specialized plants. Ruth Foster was in the backyard earlier in the season to coordinate the colors of the flowers with the surrounding hardscaping and landscaping. The cedar fence will weather to a silver grey, which will provide a soft backdrop for the seasonal colors and blossoms.

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Selecting Flowering Plants for the Backyard Now Playing

Selecting Flowering Plants for the Backyard

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Clip Transcript For:

Selecting Flowering Plants for the Backyard

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" Let me ask you one last question Ruth in terms -- your. Plant material choices here it's autumn a lot of things are dying back but what's the logic in terms of where to put -- banks."

" We got all of these plants from Monrovia. They're one of the largest plant suppliers to local nurseries all over the country and they have a number of growing stations. Where they grow very specialized plants there absolutely. Beautiful plants. I was here earlier in the season. With some blooms of the high grange is so week of work in the colors."

" So our cedar will weather and we'll have all the beautiful growth of the flowers yes thank you both it's a beautiful job."

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Planting a Perennial Flower Garden

Ruth Foster, a landscape consultant, oversees the planting of the perennial flower border in the yard. Smaller plants fill in the front, moving to the tallest flowering plants in back. Foster has chosen deer-resistant plants like summer asters for the front, with echinacea or cone flowers behind. Foster has also selected a vivid, neon autumn joy for the garden. She and Bob look at the early blooming magnolias that have been planted in the yard and the euonomous hedge that will grow to eight or ten feet and turn red in the fall.

How to Build a Flower Box

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Selecting Flowers for the Garden

Bob continues his tour of the exterior with landscape designer Ruth Foster. In the Elizabethan-inspired garden in the front of the house she explains the various flowers she has chosen for the outer border and how they are appropriate for Colonial theme. Over near the side of the house we learn more about the more naturalistic garden, a style that dates back to the American Revolution.

Mulch Options

Here s another great tip from BobVila.com. Mulch is probably the best tool you have to keep your garden healthy and green this summer. There are lots of different kinds of mulch to choose from, depending on what s in your garden and what s available where you live. Wood or bark chips, compost, straw, salt hay, cocoa husks, shredded leaves, plastic sheeting and even gravel can all make good mulch for different reasons. In the right quantities, they serve as a shield for the soil so it can do its best work. Mulch protects the soil from erosion and helps it retain its moisture so you can water less frequently and roots grow deeper and healthier. It also keeps weeds down, reserving precious nutrients for your vegetables, flowers and shrubs so you don t have to add as much fertilizer. You spend less time and energy weed whacking and don t need to use poisonous herbicides. After you ve mulched everything once, you don t necessarily have to spend a fortune every season on new bags of commercial mulch. As a matter of fact, be careful of mulching your garden with anything that attracts pests or contains dangerous chemicals, especially on vegetable gardens. Adding some organic material might be enough. Autumn leaves are a gift to your garden that literally just falls out of the trees. Instead of getting rid of them all, put them through a leaf shredder or just run over them a few times with the lawnmower, rake them up and use them as fall mulch on flower or vegetable beds with a little fertilizer. You can add compost to them and turn them into the soil in the spring. In play areas or anywhere you don t want to maintain a lawn, try a recycled mulch like rubber chunks from used tires that would otherwise sit in landfills. Find out more at BobVila.com: the ultimate home improvement web site! 2008 BobVila.com